Assessing the application and value of participatory mapping for community bushfire preparation |
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| Institution: | 1. School of Geosciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia;2. Bushfire and Natural Hazards Cooperative Research Centre, Melbourne, VIC 3002, Australia;3. Centre for Environmental Risk Management of Bushfires, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia;1. School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia;2. Appleton Institute, Central Queensland University, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia;1. Natural and Built Environments Research Centre, University of South Australia, Mawson Lakes Campus, Mawson Lakes, South Australia, 5095, Australia;2. Geography, Population and Environment, School of Social Sciences, The University of Adelaide, North Terrace, Adelaide, South Australia, 5005, Australia;1. CQUniversity, Appleton Institute, 44 Greenhill Road, Wayville, SA 5034, Australia;2. South Australian Country Fire Service, Australia;1. School of Geography, Planning and Environmental Management, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia;2. University of South Australia, Australia;3. Enviroconnect, Australia |
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| Abstract: | The increased ease for individuals to create, share and map geographic information combined with the need for timely, relevant and diverse information has resulted in a new disaster management context. Volunteered geographic information (VGI), or geographic information voluntarily created by private citizens enabled through technologies like social media and web-based mapping, has changed the ways people create and use information for crisis events. Research has focussed on disaster response while largely ignoring prevention and preparedness. Preparing for disasters can reduce negative impacts on life and property, but despite strategies to educate communities, preparation remains low. This study assesses the application and value of VGI in bushfire risk reduction through a participatory mapping approach. It examines VGI as a social practice and not simply a data source by considering the user experience of contributing VGI and the potential for these activities to increase community connectedness for building disaster resilience. Participatory mapping workshops were held in bushfire-risk communities in Tasmania. Workshop activities included a paper-mapping exercise and web-based digital mapping. Survey results from 31 participants at three workshops indicated the process of mapping and contributing local information for bushfire preparation with other community members can contribute to increased social connectedness, understanding of local bushfire risk, and engagement in risk reduction. Local knowledge exchange was seen as valuable, but the social dimension appeared even more engaging than the specific information shared. Participants reported collaborative maps as effective for collating and sharing community bushfire information with a preference for digital mapping. Some limitations of online sharing of information were also reported by participants, however, including potential issues of privacy, data quality and source trustworthiness. Further work is needed to extrapolate findings from the study sample to the broader population. |
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| Keywords: | Bushfire VGI Participatory mapping Community engagement Disaster risk reduction Disaster preparation |
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